Research Papers in Physics and Astronomy
Title
An OK Science Teacher
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
3-1974
Abstract
Many elementary school teachers
feel insecure and unsure
in their teaching of science, i.e., they
have NOT OK feelings about themselves
and science. These feelings are
based on the teachers' previous science
experiences and on their interactions
with other persons in science courses. The improvement of elementary
school science programs
depends upon the teacher's ability
to deal effectively with his feelings
about science. A complete science
education program for an elementary
teacher includes three components:
(1) science content, (2)
science methods that take into consideration
the intellectual development
of children, and (3) a practical
psychology for developing positive
human attitudes and interactions.
In attempting to cope with these
three facets of science teacher education
we developed a new course.
It features the inquiry approach to
learning science content. The science
teaching techniques are related to
the stages of intellectual development
of children identified by Piaget.
( 1 ) The transactional analysis (TA) model as propounded by Eric
Berne (2) is used to enable the
prospective teacher to improve his
self-understanding and his interactions
with children.
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Comments
Published in Science & Children, 11:6 (March 1974), pp. 17-20. Copyright 1974 by the National Science Teachers Association, Washington, D.C. 20036.